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Dh wants to get rid of the dog...

Posted by Anonymous

61 Replies

THIS TURNED OUT LONGER THEN I EXPECTED BUT PLEASE, PLEASE READ!!

So a family friend had bought a "cockapoo" back in january...they had been having a VERY hard time training the dog. My mom was talking to the wife a few months ago and the she told my mom that they were getting ready to drop the dog off at the spca because they just couldn't handle her anymore. My mom told her to hold off on doing that and she would look around to see if she could find anyone to take the dog.

Now me being a dog lover, it broke my heart when my mom told me this. My mom had no luck in finding anyone to take her. I talked to dh and we decided that this was something we could do. I have some experience training dogs, not much, and I am a sahm so knew I would have the time to put in to train her and work with her.

Well it's not going good AT ALL. We've had a personal trainer come in, I've taken her to pet training at petsmart and she is still TERRIBLE. She will randomly pee and poop whenever she feels like it, she chews on the furniture even after spraying the bitter apple stuff constantly throughout the day. She doesn't listen AT ALL..the only time she listens is when I tell her to sit, and even with that it's mainly just whenever she feels like listening. I talked to the trainer and she said that the dog just needs more time...she was allowed to do whatever she wanted before we got her, no one trained her, no one house broke her so she developed bad habits, and with some dogs it just takes longer to break them of those habits.

Dh has been getting beyond fed up with the dog but I always manage to talk him down and remind him what the trainer said. That it will get better, it's just going to take time.

Well today I think was the straw that broke the camels back...We have an area in the morning room gated off for her to play and hang out in while we are home...we were out in the garage working on dh's motorcycle. I was really only out there for about 15 minutes, but that's all it took. Normally, I would have put her back in the crate but she's been doing "decent" lately and figured she would be fine for 15 minutes unattended...boy was I wrong. I come inside and she had eaten the wall. Not so much ate it, but chewed on it. She managed to remove a small but decent amount of drywall...dh flipped his shit.

He wants to get rid of her. I don't know what to do. For one, it would break ds's heart (he's 5), and two..where would she go? We couldn't find anyone to take her before, if we come back now trying to get someone to take her AGAIN, that's going to raise even more red flags. I don't know what to do. Dh is SO done and I am not sure how much longer I can continue to calm him down. I DO NOT want to take her to the spca or a local shelter. If it comes to that..I will research my ass off until I can find a no-kill shelter..I don't care if it's hours or states a way. I will not let her be put down. She is a very sweet dog but as my mom says, she's really hard to love.

I don't know what else I can do to stop her from this bad behavior...she needs time but she is running out of time with dh QUICKLY.

Idk, but hopefully with enough attention u can fix her. Maybe let her stay in the yard most the day. Maybe she has bladder and teeth problems, have u taken her to a vet and talked to them about what she does? Goodluck

yup and the vet is useless. we can't let her stay in the yard, especially now. the house is new construction for one and they just seeded and all of that and i don't want her eating that stuff. and for two...the weather here lately is either heat index of over 100 or torrential down pours. she's been to the vet several times, check ups, shots, spayed all that. there is nothing phsyically wrong with her.

Quoting Nynnie:

Idk, but hopefully with enough attention u can fix her. Maybe let her stay in the yard most the day. Maybe she has bladder and teeth problems, have u taken her to a vet and talked to them about what she does? Goodluck

Keep her in a large crate while you are training her. She can't have free run of the house until her behaviors improve. She most likely wont dedicate in the crate as she will see it as her bed. When taking her through the house to outside, keep her leashed. Have snacks in your pocket all the time to reward her when she does listen and behave. LOTS OF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT.

She NEVER has free run of the house...if she cannot be right by my side and i can watch her 100% she is the crate. she does get time in the morning room when i am downstairs in the kitchen or living room because i can watch her. as far as the crate goes...yea she doesn't care where she pees or poops. she was NEVER taken out at her old home so she had no choice but to go in the crate. i keep her in a larger crate during the day just because i feel bad putting her in the other one, but we do have a smaller one for at night in the hopes that she won't go since it is a more confined space, but she doesn't care. she will pee and lay in it. i even wake up every 2-3 hours to take her out and several times a week she will have already gone in the crate.

she is always leashed on the way to be taken out, snacks in my pocket...all of it. positive reinforcement out the ass. that's why i'm stuck...i am literally doing EVERYTHING i have been told to do and being 100% consistent and it just doesn't seem to matter :(

Quoting Snakecharm:

Keep her in a large crate while you are training her. She can't have free run of the house until her behaviors improve. She most likely wont dedicate in the crate as she will see it as her bed. When taking her through the house to outside, keep her leashed. Have snacks in your pocket all the time to reward her when she does listen and behave. LOTS OF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT.

by Anonymous 1 - Original Poster
on Jul. 14, 2013 at 8:32 PM

bump :(

by Anonymous 2
on Jul. 14, 2013 at 8:34 PM

I would try another trainer, some dogs just take longer to train. Just show her that even when shes bad that you stilllove her. And it could be her age I may have missed it, i had someone tell me once that some dogs go from puppy to adult and others go puppy, teenager and than finally adult. Maybe you have one of those. keep trying maybe part of her problem is people keep giving up on her. Good luck with what ever you decide I know it won't be easy.

I have a dog that took years for me to love. It took until she was almost a year old to house break her, and she was extremely destructive. I wanted to get rid of her several times, but she was my daughter's dog, and I didn't want to break her heart, even though I couldn't stand her dog. The dog is 12 now, and for the last 3 or 4 years we've been getting along great. She's old, and can't run out the door every time I open it. We know, and respect each others routines. If I had to do it all over again...I'd probably try to find a no kill shelter. This old girl has cost a LOT of money in repairs over the years.

by Anonymous 1 - Original Poster
on Jul. 14, 2013 at 8:37 PM

Thanks. I've already tried two trainers and dh won't spend money on training anymore because he says it's not working. She is only 8 months old. I keep telling him she just needs more time, but at this point he's just not hearing it. Every free moment i have i am cuddling and loving her. training her, rewarding her when she listens. she will do REALLY good for 2 or 3 days then wakes up one morning and we are back to square one. i feel like im quickly running out of options :(

Thank you. Even though she is a HUGE pain in my ass...i do love her. and more importantly ds loves her but I am tired of fighting with dh :(

Quoting Anonymous:

I would try another trainer, some dogs just take longer to train. Just show her that even when shes bad that you stilllove her. And it could be her age I may have missed it, i had someone tell me once that some dogs go from puppy to adult and others go puppy, teenager and than finally adult. Maybe you have one of those. keep trying maybe part of her problem is people keep giving up on her. Good luck with what ever you decide I know it won't be easy.

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